Reducing Pregnancy Losses in Patients with Diminished Ovarian Reserves

There is good news for women with diminished ovarian reserves. A new study conducted by the Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) shows that taking DHEA supplements could actually reduce the risk for miscarriage in these women by 50-80%. 

Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR) is a diagnosis given to women who have a low supply of eggs available for reproductive potential. Every woman is born with a finite number of eggs. As a woman ages, her supply, or reserve, of eggs slowly decreases. In cases where a woman over the age of 40 is trying to conceive, it is assumed that she already has DOR due to her advanced maternal age. However, sometimes a younger woman’s ovarian reserves will be diminished due to premature aging of the ovaries, autoimmune factors, or other causes. 

Women with DOR have a disproportionately high rate of fetal abnormalities and pregnancy losses when compared to women without DOR. As the supply of eggs decreases in the woman, so does the quality of the eggs. This means that when a woman conceives, the embryo is more likely to have abnormalities,  often resulting in miscarriages. As with miscarriages in the general population, this risk increases with age. For women with DOR under the age of 35, the rate of miscarriage is 57 %. Between the ages of 35-40 the rate of miscarriage is 63.5 % and over the age of 40 the rate is nearly 90 %. 

In the CHR study, the women were supplemented with DHEA, a natural hormone produced by the body.  Previous studies have shown that DHEA treatment improves not only the quantity, but the quality of eggs in women. The researchers at CHR hypothesized that by improving the quality of the eggs there would be a decreased number of abnormalities and consequently a decreased number of pregnancy losses. 

The results of this study were truly encouraging. The participants demonstrated as much as an 80% decrease in the number of miscarriages. The researchers concluded, “DHEA supplementation, at least in women with DOR, who characteristically demonstrate abnormally high miscarriage rates, appears to significantly reduce the risk for spontaneous pregnancy loss”.

This study adds to the growing evidence of the benefits of DHEA supplementation for fertility and pregnancy.  If further studies show that DHEA supplementation can produce the same results in preventing miscarriages in the general population without DOR, perhaps in the future DHEA supplements will become a standard part of routine prenatal care.